Spikebreaker

by Gareth Lewis

  *

  Jack? Lydia's concern filtered through the fog greeting his return.

  Opening his eyes to a face which didn't match the voice, he managed to mumble, "What happened?"

  "Sniper," said Parker. "We're searching the crowd and surroundings, but we didn't see or hear the shot."

  Markham's down. Catatonic. Whatever happened made him send out a psychic scream that left most of us... Lydia's thoughts juddered to a halt as Jack turned to regard Taylor.

  Stumbling to his feet, with Parker's help, Jack approached the body.

  "The spike's down," said Parker. "There don't seem to be fatalities among the civilians, although a few haven't come round yet."

  Jack ignored the bustle of nearby officers and medical staff, his attention on Taylor's wound. He confirmed what his rushed glance earlier had told him. "It's a psykin."

  Parker's gaze fixed on him. "A psychokinetic? You're sure?"

  Jack nodded, a wave of dizziness accompanying the inadvisable move. "The shape and size of the entry wound is wrong for a bullet, and it explains why you didn't see or hear anything". While telekinetics could lift and manipulate objects with their minds, psychokinetics lacked the fine control necessary for that, the anger that usually drove them manifesting in pure force. From the wound, this psykin appeared to have a relatively tight control over his abilities. Lydia, thought Jack.

  I'm scanning the area, but he's had a couple of minutes, so he's probably cleared out.

  You didn't get anything before?

  I'd have told you if I had, she thought sharply. There were a lot of people out there, all fairly loud, I can't...

  I wasn't blaming you, he thought. Unless this was an opportunistic shot, they were likely expecting us, so they'd have taken precautions against telepathic scans. The question is, why shoot Taylor? Or why just Taylor? I ducked at the shot, but it was a second before my visor was down, so they'd have had time.

  You think psychokinetics are targeting SPI officers?

  One targeted this officer. Let Lee know, get the others warned.

  The pressure in his head eased with Lydia's retreat, and he let Parker guide him to a seat. He made sure it didn't have an outside view, just in case. He sat a while, recovering his equilibrium, and watched the victims being helped, or wheeled, from the mall. The young telepath was wheeled out, strapped down and heavily sedated, although the screamer should put him out for a few hours.

  Lydia returned, silent a while as he felt her scan the area. The long silence indicated her lack of success. Nothing, she eventually thought in frustration.

  They'd have cleared out before the police could identify everyone in the area.

  What do we do now?

  Jack shook his head. There are enough cameras covering the area, forensics are getting stuff set up to work out the trajectory. He turned to let Lydia see them at work. They should get us a face within the hour.

  At a beeping from his pocket, Jack withdrew his handset, flipping it on to meet Captain Lee's concerned gaze. "You okay?"

  "Just about," said Jack. "You know anything?"

  "Only what we're getting from the scene, which is garbled. They said you were down a while?"

  "Yeah, the spike blew my baffler, and Lydia was off line due to Markham going down."

  "It affected most telepaths on line at the time."

  "Any other officers attacked?"

  "No. I've warned everyone in the field, but we'd have had word from the Hive if any other telepaths had gone down."

  "Any news on Markham?" said Jack, feeling Lydia's thoughts tense.

  "On his way to the nearest hospital. He seems stable, and brain activity's within safe parameters, but he's not responding. What exactly happened? You're sure it was a psykin?"

  "Relatively. We were approaching the spike when the shot came from outside. Probably among the onlookers."

  "Why wait till you were inside? Couldn't they have got a closer shot before you entered?"

  "Probably." Jack went over the sequence of events. "Unless the sniper'd been following Taylor, and didn't get into position until we were in. They wouldn't have been able to drive up the street, which could explain the delay. Or maybe they wanted everyone focussing on a danger in the mall, giving them cover to get clear."

  Lee's mouth creased in thought. "The police on site can deal with the scene, I want you back here. I'm recalling all officers until we know what's going on. If you're not up to driving yourself, get someone..."

  "I'm fine," said Jack.

  "Okay, get back as soon as you can." The image went black and Jack replaced the handset.

  Are you sure you're okay to drive? thought Lydia. You're still slightly dizzy, and a bit shaky from the adrenaline fading.

  I'm fine. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and stood, waiting a second to ensure he had his balance before moving.

  Yeah, great. You're fine, she thought in a snarkier than usual tone. Be sure and let me know if you're about to crash the car so I can vacate your mind.

  I'll try not to inconvenience you too much. About to crash the car now.

  She didn't respond. Her presence felt more immediate than usual, and the hints of agitation indicated she was still shaken. When she'd shut down earlier, it had been an abrupt withdrawal from his perspective, the accompanying pain as though from a door being shut in his face. He had no idea how painful it'd been for her. The feedback to Markham had been enough to apparently shut down his mind. How much of that had been passed on to the other telepaths? Was Lydia's increased presence an unconscious way of seeking comfort?

  I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to sound harsh. He picked his words with care, the hint of suspicion in her presence feeling brittle. Are you okay? Are you up to handling this or do you want a chance to recover?

  I'm fine. Her presence withdrew, her tone taking on a formal, chilly edge. And perfectly capable of doing my job.

  I didn't mean that you... He took another deep breath as he calmed his thoughts. Had she taken that as him wanting her out of his head? Fine, he couldn't afford the time to coddle her. Moving towards his car, Jack kept his thoughts tightly reined.